Bay 12 Games Forum

I only meant to use it to smash the excess junk. Dwarfineering FTW.

Haven't had trolls get my pumps. I've got two three level watch towers, with only underground access to them. And the only access to the pumps is from inside the fortress, behind the hatches. So only swimmers that can punch through the hatches are a threat, and two Pressure plates are set inside in case something sneaks through and smashes one of the floodgates.

I can't get stone sense to work, or I'd post a screen shot.

Absolutely. I decided that walls weren't sufficiently Dwarfy, and so I went ahead and designed a flushing entrance. Seriously surprised the first goblins to get there. They managed to get into the entry way before the water got there, and got flushed back out.

I guess I'd better replace those hatches. Hmm.. now, to find some magma to get a back up safety system.

Ooh. Free loot. Best way to look at it really.

No, no. You're not using them right. They should be part of the entrance. Wall them off with flood gates. Then when you need to close the entrance from a siege, you close floor hatches, and open the flood gates. The Aquifer fills over the entrance, and the siege can't get in. When it's over, you shut the flood gates, open the hatches, after closing the flood gates in your entry way, by the way, and then have pumps drain the entry. Now you're dry and goblin/kobold/treehugger free.

I use Excel, set up with 25x25 boxes. That provides enough space for all but the most elaborate planning. (Or rather the Open Office verison of Excel.)

Define decentralization. Me, I've taken to altering the way entrances work. Instead of trying to protect the Traders inside my main complex, my Trade Depot is instead built in a 3x5 enclosure outside my primare defenses. It's protected by a drawbridge, that walls it off from the outside, closing them up incase of siege. Once they arrive, a lever closes the bridge, leading to a seven z-pit with an exit a considerable distance away from my fortress. At the same time, it opens the inner door, which lets my trader through to do his job.

The main fort is divided amongst itself. The upper levels are mostly farming, coming off a central shaft that can only be accessed from below.

The main entrance zig-zags through seven or eight levels, providing plenty of room for traps.

Then it divides into three non-connecting descents. One being a bedroom/living space descent. One being a craftshop descent, and the third usually connecting to a series of exploratory pipes. That one also goes back up to the farming area. The only farming surface access is through a single hole for water to flow into, and that later gets blocked with a wall to close it off. The water that runs through the farms, usually being flushed in a spiral pattern then pumped back up into the main cistern.